AS A TEENAGE RUNAWAY, Gemma Ra’Star DiFerdinando ended up in the Southwest in 2001 after hopping on a freight train with two Catahoula leopard dogs she found under a house. Through the kindness of strangers, DiFerdinando landed safely in a small adobe in Taos, on Two Peaks Mesa, where she learned to live close to the land. Today, DiFerdinando runs the Wumaniti Earth Native Sanctuary, in El Prado, a nonprofit focused on plant medicine and horse archery training for Native youth and veterans. The mounted martial art has taken her to 14 countries and earned her a gold medal at the Daegaya International Horseback Archery and Driving Championship in South Korea. She has also competed from the backs of reindeer in Mongolia and is the only foreigner to finish the grueling Mongolian Urtuu Race. Her work at Wumaniti, which is aided by her younger daughter’s father, hit the mark too, earning an outdoor equity grant from the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division.  

There was a wild herd of horses that used to run around between Two Peaks and Three Peaks. I would go out there and catch them, talk to them through my third eye and their third eye. 

I used to have a lot of issues with alcohol. I didn’t trust anyone. 

I created Wumaniti Sanctuary as a bridge between the sacred wisdom of the horse and ancestral land stewardship, youth stewardship, and plant medicine. Everything we do is rooted deeply in New Mexico earth. 

Horses, bows, and arrows connect us as one people. It takes away the color of our skin, our nationality, our religion, and brings us together as one.

I’ve built my life around healing after moving through immense trauma in my past. 

My daughters have given me the opportunity to be a child with them. 

I’ve trained my 12-year-old in horseback archery. She’s a hoop dancer from Taos Pueblo. 

Her dad is a very traditional man. He helps a lot with Wumaniti. He’s our backbone.

I came into this world with a contract with my family that is way different than the one my kids came into the world with. And that’s okay.

Reindeers have slippery backs. Each side moves in a different direction. It’s not like a horse, where you move with their gait. I’ve lost my balance so many times. 

When you’re shooting, all you think about is the target.

Keep your eye on your target and trust your horse. It’s a lot of balance. 

I’ve had some crazy falls when I’ve been in my head and not in the moment. 

I’m a pretty magical being, and the horse keeps me that way—and this land, Taos, northern New Mexico [does too].

The Urtuu Race is the craziest race in the world. 

Each person races on 36 wild horses over nine days, and we cover 700 miles.

I had two kids from Pojoaque who had never been on horses. They were so scared when they first got on. Two hours later, they’re running in the field.

I wish Wumaniti was the government. We would save so many lives. People could live peacefully on Earth.

Wumaniti is a hope. The horse is a hope. 

SEE FOR YOURSELF

Follow Gemma Ra’Star DiFerdinando on Instagram (@gemma_rastar). Learn more about Wumaniti Earth Native Sanctuary at mountedmartialarts.org.